The NPDRR is a multi-stakeholders National Platform headed by the Union Home Minister and it promotes participatory decision making in disaster management, and strengthens federal policy of our country. It was set up through a resolution in 2013.

The National Platform aims to bring together the whole range of India’s disaster risk community from Government, Parliamentarians, Mayors, Media, International Organisations, NGOs, local community representatives, scientific and academic institutions and corporate businesses etc. It will help in sharing of experiences, views and ideas, present findings of research and action and explore opportunities for mutual cooperation in the field of Disaster Risk Reduction. The output from the National Platform will offer a strategic direction and a road map for the formulation of our future national action plans on DRR.

Functions of the national platform:

To review the progress made in the field of disaster management from time to time.

To appreciate the extent and manner in which the Disaster Management Policy has been implemented by the Central and State Governments, and other concerned agencies, and to give appropriate advice in the matter.

To advise on coordination between the Central and State Governments/UT Administrations, local self-governments and civil society organisations for Disaster Risk Reduction.

To advise suo-moto or on a reference made by the Central Government or any other State Government or a Union Territory Administration on any question pertaining to disaster management.

To review the National Disaster Management Policy.

–

2.Ease of getting electricity in India

Source: The Hindu

World Bank’s electricity accessibility ranking for the year 2016 has been released.

Parameters:The ranking was based on ten parameters, including the ease of getting electricity. Some other parameters were: number of procedures involved, time taken to obtain a new connection, cost for obtaining a commercial connection (up to 140KVA), and reliability of power supply.

Performance of India:

India moved up to the 26th spot. India was at the 99th position in 2014; it jumped 73 ranks in 2016.

The Centre has taken several initiatives that have improved India’s ranking for 2016. The government’s rural electrification program has mainly contributed to the improvement.

Providing online portals enabling customers to apply for connections without the need for physical documents,

Reducing the procedures for the release of a new connection to only three: online application and site inspection, demand note generation (if required), and external connection and meter installation,

Providing connections (up to 150KVA) within 7/15 days if there is a necessity.

–

3.NBT to host diaspora meets

Source: The Hindu

National Book Trust is planning to introduce a new element: a conference for the Indian diaspora. The trust has planned Beijing Book Fair in August, the Frankfurt Book Fair in October and Sharjah Book Fair in November as venues to host such meets.

The conferences will encourage overseas Indians — the “cultural ambassadors” of India abroad — to write literature on themes related to Indian values. The NBT will also offer to publish such works.

The vision behind such conferences is two-fold: to bring Indian diaspora writers on one platform so that they can engage with one another and develop a common thought, and to encourage them to write literature that represents Indian values to reach out to the next generation of Indians in that country.

NBT:

National Book Trust (NBT) is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Education of the Government of India. NBT now functions under aegis of Ministry of Human Resource Development.

India’s first Prime Minister Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru envisioned that NBT would be a bureaucracy-free structure that would publish low-cost books.

–

4.India’s ‘Ujala’ to light up UK homes

Source: PIB

Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal recently launched the Ujala Scheme related to the energy efficient LED bulbs in London.

Ujala

Ujala is globally one of the largest efficiency programmes and being run by Energy Efficiency Services Ltd, an energy services company promoted by Indian state-run power majors.

Through this initiative, the government plans to replace all 770 million inefficient incandescent and CFL (compact fluorescent lamps in the country with LED (light emitting diode) bulbs.

The programme has already turned India into the world’s LED capital, accounting for 10-12% of the global market 4 billion bulbs.

The Ujala scheme uses economy of scale and a sustainable market mechanism.

Vinoba IAS Academy is one of the leading centers dedicated to the noble objective of training and tutoring the civil service aspirants. Our aim is to not just provide the educational coaching but also to walk the student step by step through the much needed detailed guidance, touching every aspect of training for the exams.